MSM More Interested in Palin Gossip than her Record
Commenting on a conversation with an Alaska couple who, like most in the Last Frontier, love their Governor, Jay Nordlinger observes, “the campaign of hate and vilification against her has been one of the most disgusting things I have ever witnessed in American public life.”
Various news outlets send teams to Alaska, but to dig up dirt, not report on the governor’s record. It’s almost as they see themselves as tabloid gossip columnists rather than serious journalists. They rush to report about the RNC paying for her wardrobe or the state reimbursing her children’s travel, but they ignore her reform record.
I decided to do a little googling to see how much they covered various stories. All the following are searching via Google News and were performed without quotation marks:
- “Palin Troopergate” 4,916
- “Palin daughter pregnant” 1,497
- “Palin natural gas pipeline” 1,390
- “Palin creationism” 604
- “Palin Alaska Oil and Gas Commission” 599
- “Palin Ruedrich” 21
- “Palin Renkes” 7
What are Ruedrich and Renkes you may ask? Well, if the media were doing their job, everyone would know about these two corrupt Republican officials whom Palin exposed and forced to resign. Randy Ruedrich from the Alaska’s Oil and Gas Commission, Gregg Renkes from his position as state Attorney General.
The media are more interested in her daughter’s pregnancy than the governor’s actual accomplishments.
And here’s something else interesting about Troopergate. We find 152 references for “Hollis French Palin Troopergate,” but only 34 when we add the word “Obama” into the mix. Hollis French, the state Senator spearheading the probe, is a staunch supporter of the Democratic nominee. 78% of the stories thus omit French’s partisan leanings. Well, at least 78%. I haven’t checked the remaining 4,764 stories to see if they note the presidential politicking involved in the investigation.
To find stories of her actual record, you need go to the conservative press:
UPDATE:Â Michael Graham wonders if Obama could be as resilient as Palin in the face of a hostile media (Via Instapundit).
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Gov. Palin is the political equivalent of a trophy wife, or second wife. Cute in social situations, dresses appropriately, with just the right amount of sex appeal. Will defend her man, and make him look younger and virile. Smart enough to have a cocktail party conversation, but you wouldn’t hire her to run a division of your business without a handler. Citizens should treat her as thus and women should be offended.
Comment by arthur — October 23, 2008 @ 9:03 am - October 23, 2008
Nice left-wing condescension from arthur. Thanks for reminding us how the left really feels about women.
Comment by V the K — October 23, 2008 @ 9:13 am - October 23, 2008
arthur meant to say:
Comment by heliotrope — October 23, 2008 @ 9:50 am - October 23, 2008
As to the MSM coverage of Palin, I am shocked. Shocked, I tell you. Where do I go to register my complaint and get this situation corrected? I am going to call MSNBC and give them this information. Also, I will call Drew Griffin at CNN. I will tell the New York Times. I will call the WaPo. I will e-mail that guy at the Kansas City Star. I am going to get to the bottom of this. Or not.
Comment by heliotrope — October 23, 2008 @ 9:56 am - October 23, 2008
Off-Topic: Socialism in Venezuela working as well as expected. No food. No lights. No power. No free press. But Sean Penn is happy.
Looking forward to trying some of that genius “spread the wealth around” economic philosophy here.
Comment by V the K — October 23, 2008 @ 10:00 am - October 23, 2008
“Various news outlets send teams to Alaska, but to dig up dirt, not report on the governor’s record. It’s almost as they see themselves as tabloid gossip columnists rather than serious journalists.”
GPW, they could be waist deep in a putrid dumpster looking for Palin’s used tampons to prove she’s not Trig’s biological mother, but they will always consider themselves SERIOUS JOURNALISTS. These losers came of age in the Watergate era or shortly thereafter. They decided to become journalists because they saw Robert Redford in All The President’s Men and wanted to be him. At that crucial turning point in their lives, they (big surprise!) got the story wrong: the nobility in Woodward and Bernstein’s work was their pursuit of the ideal of INFORMING THE PUBLIC. Since then, they have bastardized it to the point where the ideal is DESTROYING CONSERVATIVE POLITICIANS. To them, the highest and most noble journalistic endeavor is exposing evil Republicans like Nixon. So, no matter what they do and no matter how low they sink, as long as it is in the pursuit of the destruction of one of those “evil Republicans,” it is comparable to feeding the poor in Calcutta.
Comment by Sean A — October 23, 2008 @ 10:16 am - October 23, 2008
to be a woman and offended by sarah palin and her nomination for vice president is far from sexist. the fact that mccain never, ever, ever! would have chosen a new male governor of alaska with limited qualifications is offensive. the fact that she was chosen to appeal to voters left in the wake of hillary clinton’s defeat when these women share absolutely no idealogical common ground on women’s issues is offensive. do i think that sarah palin is a strong woman who has fought to get where she got in her life? yes, of course. do i think that she’s been treated by the media unfairly and in ways a man would not be and is not treated? absolutely. but just because someone shares sex organs with me doesn’t mean we believe or think the same, and it definitely doesn’t mean that if she’s elected she will ever represent what’s important to me and many american women. it doesn’t make me bitter or angry or jealous or radical, it makes me, if anything, a real “values voter”! why is that so hard for conservatives to understand?
i also am heartened, frankly, that troopergate appeared more than three times more than bristol palin’s pregnancy — it kind of proves that for all conservatives’ crowing about the focus on unfair personal issues with her family… it really isn’t happening as much as they might like to think. palin’s abuse of power and nepotism as governor IS an important part of her record and something that i and lots of other people, apparently, are more concerned about than whether her daughter had sex or not, or whether the guy “spearheading” this mostly-republican council assembled before palin was nominated, is a democrat.
Comment by LB — October 23, 2008 @ 10:39 am - October 23, 2008
Thank you, LB, for helping confirm the point of my post.
You say Governor Palin has limited qualifications, but part of the point of the post was that the media has downplayed her accomplishments. And our comment shows you have no knowledge of what she has done.
As to Hollis French spearheading the probe, please note the legislative panel did not sign off on the findings of the one man, Steve Branchflower, who conducted the actual investigation. Branchflower was handpicked by Monegan. And the legislative panel only authorized to release the report. They didn’t vote to accept its findings.
Your comments displays your ignorance, not surprising given the media bias addressed in this post.
And the question of “abuse of power.” Well, Branchflower says it’s because Palin didn’t rein in her husband. She allegedly abused power by failing to tell him to refrain from pressing Monegan.
So, familiarize yourself with the facts before you weigh in.
Comment by GayPatriotWest — October 23, 2008 @ 11:42 am - October 23, 2008
LB: another Democrat in support of wife-abusing, child-tasering, drunk-on-duty rogue cops.
Comment by V the K — October 23, 2008 @ 11:49 am - October 23, 2008
The Thunder Run has linked to this post in the – Web Reconnaissance for 10/23/2008 A short recon of what’s out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often.
Comment by David M — October 23, 2008 @ 11:59 am - October 23, 2008
I’m a registered Republican, who went door to door for Nixon.
Comment by arthur — October 23, 2008 @ 12:37 pm - October 23, 2008
arthur, you are a small letter imposter. If you went door to door for Nixon, you were carrying an impeachment petition. Kindly compare Palin’s inexperience to Obama’s. As a registered Republican, you should have no trouble listing 20 problems with Obama. You will only have trouble in ranking them in order of which is most troubling. As a registered republican, you should have no trouble listing Palin’s qualifications. She has accomplished far more in her political career than Joe Biden has.
Bring it on.
Comment by heliotrope — October 23, 2008 @ 12:48 pm - October 23, 2008
I’m a registered Republican, who went door to door for Nixon.
That would certainly explain the Mad Men era ‘Honey get me some coffee’ attitude toward women.
Comment by V the K — October 23, 2008 @ 12:48 pm - October 23, 2008
arthur- Alaskans seem pretty happy with how she’s run their state. But what do they know.
original post- Mostly, formerly reputable news organizations are discovering that gossip and scandal sells… there’s a reason that the National Enquirer sold more than ten times as well as the New York Times even before the media implosion of the past few years.
Update- We’re talking about the same Barack Obama who feels put upon because some of the talking heads at Fox don’t support him, and whines about it all the time? Yeah. He’d do smashingly in Palin’s shoes.
Comment by Clint — October 23, 2008 @ 12:49 pm - October 23, 2008
Maybe arthur is jealous because a mere woman has run a business, been mayor of a city, run a state regulatory board over an important industry, and become governor of a state while his greatest political accomplishment is handing out Tricky Dicky campaign literature forty years ago.
Comment by V the K — October 23, 2008 @ 12:52 pm - October 23, 2008
What limited qualifications? Spell them out.
Of course McCain was swayed by gender in this particular election. The Democrats chose Obama because of his race. Had he been white, we wouldn’t even know of him. So what is the deal here?
Sarah Palin is no different than Joe the plumber in her bedrock conservative principles. McCain might very well have chosen the male governor of Alaska version of Sarah Palin.
Why would a woman be offended by Sarah Palin? What has she done or represent that is “offensive”? Pro-life? Large family? Confidence? Conservative values? An engaging personality? Achievement? Christian beliefs? Straight talk? Maverick qualities? Being a fast learner? Not being a part of the pseudo-intellectual, connected, chattering, preppie Eastern elite? Shopping at Wal-Mart? Not killing a Downs baby? Helping her pregnant teen deal with responsibility? Understanding the lives of regular, hard working Americans?
Do inform us.
Comment by heliotrope — October 23, 2008 @ 1:09 pm - October 23, 2008
Obama’s Campaign Finance Fraud. About as accidental as those ‘accidental’ phony ACORN voter registrations.
Comment by V the K — October 23, 2008 @ 1:39 pm - October 23, 2008
okay: what are some things that sarah palin has actively done for women in her tenure as mayor and governor that i don’t know about? if i am ignorant, i’m legitimately curious.
Comment by LB — October 23, 2008 @ 2:47 pm - October 23, 2008
What has she done for women?
1. She eliminated wasteful spending from Alaska’s budget, benefiting Alaska’s taxpayers… half of whom are women.
2. She secured a deal to build a natural gas pipeline… securing jobs for women and for men who support women, as well as securing fuel for all women who use it.
3. She fought corruption in her own party, benefiting all women who care about an honest political system.
4. She provided a courageous example for women who have Down’s Syndrome pregnancies.
5. She showed by example that a woman can achieve success without having to tolerate a philandering husband (Hillary) or being born into a wealthy, connected family (Pelosi, Snowe, Collins, Sebelius, Landrieu, McCaskill).
6. She showed that a woman can govern a state competently, unlike Michigan’s Jenny “one state recession” Granholm.
7. She stood up for domestic energy production creating jobs and lower energy costs for workers and consumers… half of whom are women.
8. She demonstrates that if women work hard and make the right choices, there’s no limit to what they can achieve. Even if they grow up in a cabin and have to hunt for their own food. She showed women you don’t have to kowtow to the feminist left to achieve success.
9. She served her constituents in Wasilla well enough to win re-election handily, and achieve an 80 per cent approval rating in Alaska. I would estimate that about half of her constituents are women.
10. She inquired into the firing of a wife and child-abusing cop.
Comment by V the K — October 23, 2008 @ 3:06 pm - October 23, 2008
LB begs:
Huh? Where is it written that a female governor or mayor must “actively” do something just for women? What kind of sexist bigotry ungirds such foolish thinking?
I will pass on contemplating your level of ignorance, but what do you ask when you are illegitimately curious?
Comment by heliotrope — October 23, 2008 @ 3:31 pm - October 23, 2008
My previous comments to LB are still resting in the spam filter.
Comment by heliotrope — October 23, 2008 @ 3:32 pm - October 23, 2008
i didn’t know that y’all would be so mean on the internet! really, i’m actually curious about these things.
i, as a woman who is very concerned about women’s issues that affect women on a daily basis, like: health care, domestic violence, fair pay, reproductive rights, am being told by conservatives that i should be ashamed of myself as a feminist for not voting for a woman like sarah palin JUST BECAUSE she is a woman. natural gas pipelines, wasteful spending and her “maverick” status are not women’s issues. if she isn’t actively pursuing the betterment of women’s lives in her state — especially a state where the incident of sexual assault is phenomenally higher than any other state! i have serious problems with voting for her. i’m not saying that a woman should be pursuing these goals because she’s a woman, but that PEOPLE who have the power to make and change policy, male or female, should. is that sexist for me to vote for the candidates who have done that the most?
i’m also really wondering what your idea of the “right choices” are, and how sarah palin has made “right choices” and the “feminist left” does not.
Comment by LB — October 23, 2008 @ 4:33 pm - October 23, 2008
Mean, LB. C’mon, give me a break. You come to our side, comment to my post, but ignore my points, deciding to weigh in with your left-wing talking points.
You weigh in on Sarah Palin, but from your very comment, you demonstrate an incredible ignorance of her record.
Comment by GayPatriotWest — October 23, 2008 @ 4:49 pm - October 23, 2008
I would assume that in a perfect world we elect someone to represent all of the people, not just some particular segment of society. At least that is what most rational people probably want their elected officials to do. It seems the Democrats have a different set of standards and want an elected offical to represent only certain segments of society. So I for one am glad that Gov Palin is not stuck on an agenda just to look out for the interests of the women of her state but in fact pays attention to the interests of all of her constituents regardless of gender.
Comment by Not Always Right — October 23, 2008 @ 4:59 pm - October 23, 2008
oh it was a small joke! i didn’t know that my personal beliefs on women’s rights were left-wing talking points, but, uh, okay! i did admit my ignorance of sarah palin’s record on women’s issues, and from your explanation, she doesn’t have one. apparently now ignorance is classified as not believing facts that… don’t exist.
Comment by LB — October 23, 2008 @ 5:00 pm - October 23, 2008
ughhhh. do i think that barack obama or anyone else ONLY represents women’s interests and not the interests of society as a whole? of course not and i dont think that anyone should. but ignoring women’s rights altogether and doing nothing to prevent or investigate the alarming rate of sexual assaults in alaska is a little bit gross. to me.
Comment by LB — October 23, 2008 @ 5:04 pm - October 23, 2008
LB, well, it’s gross to me that someone would comment to my post without addressing its points. The left-wing talking points I reference are your comments on Governor Palin.
Comment by GayPatriotWest — October 23, 2008 @ 5:10 pm - October 23, 2008
Fellas, fellas, remember, we’re talking to a Democrat woman here.
For example, she whines about “fair pay” for women, and insists she supports Obama because he supports it — even though he doesn’t practice it.
Based on these calculations, Obama’s 28 male staffers divided among themselves total payroll expenditures of $1,523,120. Thus, Obama’s average male employee earned $54,397.
Obama’s 30 female employees split $1,354,580 among themselves, or $45,152, on average.
Why this disparity? One reason may be the underrepresentation of women in Obama’s highest-compensated ranks. Among Obama’s five best-paid advisers, one was a woman. Among his top 20, seven were women.
Again, on average, Obama’s female staffers earn just 83 cents for every dollar his male staffers make. This figure certainly exceeds the 77-cent threshold that Obama’s campaign Web site condemns. However, 83 cents do not equal $1.00. In spite of this 17-cent gap between Obama’s rhetoric and reality, he chose to chide GOP presidential contender John McCain on this issue.
Obama responded Aug. 31 to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s Republican vice-presidential nomination. Palin “seems like a very engaging person,” Obama told voters in Toledo, Ohio. “But I’ve got to say, she’s opposed – like John McCain is – to equal pay for equal work. That doesn’t make much sense to me.”
Obama’s criticism notwithstanding, McCain’s payment patterns are the stuff of feminist dreams.
McCain’s 17 male staffers split $916,914, thus averaging $53,936. His 25 female employees divided $1,396,958 and averaged $55,878.
On average, according to these data, women in John McCain’s office make $1.04 for every dollar a man makes. In fact, all other things being equal, a typical female staffer could earn 21 cents more per dollar paid to her male counterpart – while adding $10,726 to her annual income – by leaving Barack Obama’s office and going to work for John McCain.
How could this be?
One explanation could be that women compose a majority of McCain’s highest-paid aides. Among his top-five best-compensated staffers, three are women. Of his 20-highest-salaried employees, 13 are women. The Republican presidential nominee relies on women – much more than men – for advice at the highest, and thus, best-paid levels.
So let’s see. Obama blabbers about supporting “fair pay” but doesn’t practice it; McCain says that people should be paid on their merits regardless of gender and more than practices it.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — October 23, 2008 @ 5:27 pm - October 23, 2008
LB, if a conservative has told you to vote for Sarah Palin because she is a woman and you are a woman, that conservative is a full blown idiot. On the other hand, there are women who want to vote for a woman, so those of us who support Sarah Palin are perfectly happy to have their votes.
You seem to have selected women’s “issues” as your focus. Fine. Many voters limit themselves to narrow issues such as gay marriage, pro-choice, evangelical values, skin color or expanded socialism. Those voters have to choose who best fits their driving concerns. Sarah Palin is not promoting a separate feminist agenda.
Apparently, you favor the liberal feminist agenda. You will not be happy among conservatives in general. We do not favor holding women back, denying women’s health care, making women get pregnant and forcing them to carry the baby as punishment, being subject to unfair pay, or submitting to domestic violence. In fact, we conservatives would like to see proof of discrimination against women so we can make sure the multitude of existing laws are enforced. We do not believe that cutting a government check, sending a social worker around, taking guns away from everyone or establishing another agency is even remotely effective in confronting the problems some women have. The 14th Amendment guarantees women the equal protection and due process of the law. Conservatives love to enforce the Constitution.
If you have great faith in Obama and his hope and change fog of comfort talk, then you should hitch your wagon to his unicorn and enjoy the ride.
Comment by heliotrope — October 23, 2008 @ 5:29 pm - October 23, 2008
She got educated. She married the father of her children and stayed with him. She obviously respects and supports him, and he does the same for her. She worked hard. She sustained herself with her personal responsibility and faith, not demanding that the government take care of her.
Comment by V the K — October 23, 2008 @ 6:01 pm - October 23, 2008
“I’m a registered Republican, who went door to door for Nixon.”
And Hillary was a Goldwater Girl. If you’re a Republican, what have you done within the party, lately?
Comment by Rebekah K — October 23, 2008 @ 8:20 pm - October 23, 2008
[...] While giving Barack Obama a pass, the media have shown interest into delving into her personal life than in parsing her political record. [...]
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